Final Paper

Writing Through College: Composing Writing in the Life of a College Student



Where to begin?

As time goes by technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives. We are incorporating this technology into things such as having tickets on our phones as opposed to the paper printouts, or being able to send emails directly from our phones. Why not incorporate this wave of technology use into our world of academics? Rebecca M Sullivan shows just how the use of the technology in a classroom can benefit a student's writing. The technology that she focuses on is the iPad. Because in my own college experiences I have had my iPad there to use as a tool for my writing process, I was curious to see how Sullivan's article would apply. How does my own experience compare to the experience of students in a classroom? Well, I have found similarities and differences along the way but it seems that I experience some of the same benefits along with the distractions that occur with the students in the secondary learning level classroom.

What did Sullivan have to say?

The most important thing that I noticed about Rebecca M Sullivan's article, The Tablet Inscribed: Inclusive Writing Instruction with the iPad, is that this article was written very recently; it was published in January of 2013. The iPad is a very new technology and the recency of the article is something that shows the iPad is introducing a new form of writing in a more modern classroom. Rebecca M Sullivan shows the integration of technology of the iPad into the secondary learning level classroom in order to compose writing with the tablet technology. Sullivan mentions that there have been debates as to whether or not technology was a good thing to integrate into the classroom setting because of the distractions that it may bring to the learning process. In the classes where the iPad has already been integrated they have added and deleted different applications that would be helpful to the class and a distraction to the class respectively. For example, the Music, Calendar and App Store applications were removed from the iPads because these were felt to be intended for the single-user as opposed to the sharing use in a secondary level classroom. As an instructor herself, Sullivan faces the potential problem of distraction by providing covers for the iPads and gives a clear instruction during her classes when the cover on the iPad is to be closed in order to provide her, the instructor, with the students' full attention.

When the students are working they are writing more efficiently and at a higher level of quality work when they are composing their work on an iPad. The students are able to track their writing process more easily on the iPad that they use on a more frequent basis in their class. Also, the use of discussion is a major part in the writing process and the use of the iPad allows for an easier connection with others to initiate this discussion. Things that initiate this discussion that is used in the study is a Google Doc. The entire class can now view, edit and give feedback to a paper that is posted. The iPad also allows for an easy connection to online databases and a variety of other resources that are literally in the hands of the students while they are writing. The ease of accessibility is what leads to the better quality of paper.

The student's writing in a classroom setting is improved by the use of an iPad. It was my goal to see if any of the occurrences that happened in the study that Sullivan refers to would take place in my own experiences.

How does this college student work?

I have been keeping track of the my use of the iPad over the course of nine weeks and I have seen just what I have used it for. My iPad is something that I use for all of my school work. I compose each of my papers, no matter the length, on my iPad. I order to type up my paper I have a Documents application which is available in the apple App Store as a free application. The touch screen is convenient for me and when I type I hold the iPad horizontally so the the keyboard is wide enough for my hands to touch the 'keys' with ease. When I compose my writing I typically am not at a desk, I carry my iPad around with me in my bag wherever I go. I will sit in my room on the floor or in my bed in order to write a paper if I am at home or I will compose papers in my car between classes. In all of the places that I use my iPad for academic writing there is no music or any other outside source of any kind around to serve as a distraction, no food or drinks, nothing. Typically when I am in my car on campus I do not have access to an Internet connection which allows me to focus on my work as opposed to navigating away from my paper. When I am at home I will even turn off my wifi connection to my iPad in order to avoid outside distractions. I have seen that I typically navigate away from my paper when I am using a source that is on the Internet. I will go between the two applications of Documents, where I compose my paper, and Safari, the Internet server that is on the iPad. When the Safari is open and running I have a tendency to travel to other websites and lose focus on my paper.

Although I may lose focus on what I am doing within the different applications, when I use the iPad I focus on it solely. This undivided focus is a benefit to my writing because it allows me to focus on the topic of my paper and allows me to produce a better quality of work. When I only keep the applications open that pertain to the work that I am doing it makes it a lot easier for me to focus. In the course of taking notes on myself, I also noted that I have taken a screen shot, or a picture of any image that is on the iPad screen that gets saved to the photo application, of the Internet windows that I am using so that I can use them at a later time. These screen shots allow me to access the information from a website without needing access to the Internet. This helps with my wondering when I am doing a paper. When I am not connected to the Internet it also allows me to better my focus because I am not receiving any text messages to my iPad that would tempt me to answer them. In my notes I found that I answer text messages quite often when they come to my iPad. Answering the text message pulls my focus away from the paper that I am writing and extends the amount of time that it takes me to complete an assignment, when I am working with a deadline this is not always the best thing.

From the data that I have collected on my own personal iPad habits and took notes on, I can see how Rebecca M Sullivan relates iPads to composing writing. Obviously the study is different because she focuses on the use of the iPad in a classroom and the classroom alone, while I travel with my iPad and use it in a variety of settings. Something else that plays a role in the differences is that the iPads that are used in the secondary learning classroom that Sullivan refers to have also been programmed specifically for a class; all of the distractions that I deal with on my iPad have been removed from the iPads that these students used. However, the benefits of using the iPad are something that I share with the students in Sullivan's classroom. I am able to connect with the Internet and databases for sources all from one device and I am able to connect with other people in order to gain more ideas in my writing, even though I admit that sometimes I sway off topic and get distracted. Overall, what I have seen is very similar to Sullivan's article although it talks about iPad use on a larger scale than just one person the uses are similar and the benefits correlate.

Wrapping it up
Overall I would say that the use of an iPad is something that academics should really be researching for the classrooms of not only the future but of the present. Children are being ale to use these great forms of technology to expand their writing abilities. Sullivan shows that the use of iPads in the classroom is a positive addition on a secondary education level. Through my own collection of data I would say that Sullivan's conclusions are accurate. Composing writing through technology of an iPad is something that benefits the student. As a college student without a lot of time to sit at a desk the convenience of the iPad is incredible. I think that I have shown that the use of technology should be incorporated into the academic lives of all students and that through this technology children's writing abilities and quality will only improve.

Using the criteria below, write an evaluation of your research project.

I'm going to evaluate my paper as follows:

The writing process is something that I was not always the most prompt with throughout the semester. We said that the writing process should consist of 100 points. With the work that I have posted and the work that I have shown that I have done I do not think that I would quite get all of those points. I did not receive all of the points when Dr. Chandler went through my blogs and I feel that that should be accounted for in this final grade. So out of the 100 points I'm going to say that I should probably receive around 90 of them. I had a majority of my posts up and I personally know I made progress along the way but it was not as prompt as it could have been.

On to the essay grade of 100 points. We divided it so that focus could receive 30 points, audience/genre receives 25, organization receives 20, development 20 and correctness 5.
For my essay I would say that I think my focus is there and that you are able to tell what the paper is talking about but I think that possibly I could have gone in and developed it some more so I would probably give myself around 25 points of that 30. In regards to genre, I think that it is written as a research paper it has the different sections that a search paper has but may it is a little too personal. I realize that I wrote an auto ethnography which would refer to myself but it might be too much. I would say 23. The organization is pretty well done. For what I have it is presented in a way that you can figure it out I would give myself 18. I think when it comes to the development I think I may have been able to delve in a little more with the connections and the example usage. I would say it is 15 points worthy. As far as correctness I think that I should receive the full 5 points because there is nothing that terrible that is distracting to the reader. This gives me 86 out of the 100 points.

The analysis grade is out of 300 points. I would basically split it in half in regards to promptness and the development of the analysis. So for promptness and having my data and analysis on the blog in a timely manner I would give myself about 140 points. Like I mentioned earlier, I was not always right on time but I had the information that was needed. The remaining 150 points would be for the actual use of analysis. I think that my analysis could have been more in depth in some parts. I think that I could have used more connections along the way. I would probably only give myself around 100 points of the 150.

So I have 90 in the writing process, 86 in the essay, and 240 in the analysis. All together this adds up to being 416 points out of the possible 500. This would give me an approximate 83% for my grade. I would say that a B would be a reasonable grade for this paper.

if you gave your presentation earlier, post your ongoing revisions

So far I have changed some headings

Writing Through College: Composing Writing in the Life of a College Student


Where to begin?

As time goes by technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives. We are incorporating this technology into things such as having tickets on our phones as opposed to the paper printouts, or being able to send emails directly from our phones. Why not incorporate this wave of technology use into our world of academics? Rebecca M Sullivan shows just how the use of the technology in a classroom can benefit a student's writing. The technology that she focuses on is the iPad. Because in my own college experiences I have had my iPad there to use as a tool for my writing process, I was curious to see how Sullivan's article would apply. How does my own experience compare to the experience of students in a classroom? Well, I have found similarities and differences along the way but it seems that I experience some of the same benefits along with the distractions that occur with the students in the secondary learning level classroom.

What did Sullivan have to say?

The most important thing that I noticed about Rebecca M Sullivan's article, The Tablet Inscribed: Inclusive Writing Instruction with the iPad, is that this article was written very recently; it was published in January of 2013. The iPad is a very new technology and the recency of the article is something that shows the iPad is introducing a new form of writing in a more modern classroom. Rebecca M Sullivan shows the integration of technology of the iPad into the secondary learning level classroom in order to compose writing with the tablet technology. Sullivan mentions that there have been debates as to whether or not technology was a good thing to integrate into the classroom setting because of the distractions that it may bring to the learning process. In the classes where the iPad has already been integrated they have added and deleted different applications that would be helpful to the class and a distraction to the class respectively. For example, the Music, Calendar and App Store applications were removed from the iPads because these were felt to be intended for the single-user as opposed to the sharing use in a secondary level classroom. As an instructor herself, Sullivan faces the potential problem of distraction by providing covers for the iPads and gives a clear instruction during her classes when the cover on the iPad is to be closed in order to provide her, the instructor, with the students' full attention.

When the students are working they are writing more efficiently and at a higher level of quality work when they are composing their work on an iPad. The students are able to track their writing process more easily on the iPad that they use on a more frequent basis in their class. Also, the use of discussion is a major part in the writing process and the use of the iPad allows for an easier connection with others to initiate this discussion. Things that initiate this discussion that is used in the study is a Google Doc. The entire class can now view, edit and give feedback to a paper that is posted. The iPad also allows for an easy connection to online databases and a variety of other resources that are literally in the hands of the students while they are writing. The ease of accessibility is what leads to the better quality of paper.

The student's writing in a classroom setting is improved by the use of an iPad. It was my goal to see if any of the occurrences that happened in the study that Sullivan refers to would take place in my own experiences.

How does this college student work?

I have been keeping track of the my use of the iPad over the course of nine weeks and I have seen just what I have used it for. My iPad is something that I use for all of my school work. I compose each of my papers, no matter the length, on my iPad. I order to type up my paper I have a Documents application which is available in the apple App Store as a free application. The touch screen is convenient for me and when I type I hold the iPad horizontally so the the keyboard is wide enough for my hands to touch the 'keys' with ease. When I compose my writing I typically am not at a desk, I carry it around with me in my bag wherever I go. I will sit in my room on the floor or in my bed in order to write a paper or I will compose papers in my car between classes. In all of the places that I use my iPad for academic writing there is no music or any other outside source of any kind around to serve as a distraction, no food or drinks, nothing. Typically when I am in my car I do not have access to an Internet connection which allows me to focus on my work as opposed to navigating away from my paper. When I am at home I will even turn off my wifi in order to avoid distractions. I have seen that I typically navigate away from my paper when I am using a source on the Internet. I will go between the two applications of Documents, where I compose my paper, and Safari, the Internet server that is on the iPad. When the Safari is open and running I have a tendency to travel to other websites and lose focus on my paper.

Although I may lose focus on what I am doing within the different applications when I use the iPad I focus on it solely. This undivided focus is a benefit to my writing because it allows me to focus on the topic of my paper and allows me to produce a better quality of work. When I only keep the applications open that pertain to the work that I am doing it makes it a lot easier for me to focus. I also noted that I have taken a screen shot, or a picture of any image that is on the iPad screen that gets saved to the photo application, of the Internet windows that I am using so that I can use them at a later time. These screen shots allow me to access the information from a website without needing access to the Internet. This helps with my wondering when I am doing a paper. When I am not connected to the Internet it also allows me to better my focus because I am not receiving any text messages to my iPad that would tempt me to answer them.

From the data that I have collected and noted on from my behavior I can see how Rebecca M Sullivan relates iPads to composing writing. Obviously the study is different because she focuses on the use of the iPad in a classroom and the classroom alone while I travel with my iPad and use it in a variety of settings. The iPads that are used in the secondary learning classroom that Sullivan refers to have also been programmed specifically for a class and all of the distractions that I deal with on my iPad have been removed from the iPads that these students used. However, the benefits of using the iPad are something that I share with the students in Sullivan's classroom. I am able to connect with the Internet and databases for sources all from one device and I am able to connect with other people in order to gain more ideas in my writing, even though I admit that sometimes I sway off topic and get distracted. Overall, what I have seen is very similar to Sullivan's article although it talks about iPad use on a larger scale than just one person the uses are similar and the benefits correlate.

So Far

Research Paper

Introduction

As time goes by technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives. We are incorporating technology into every aspect of our lives such as having tickets on our phones as opposed to the paper printouts, and being able to send emails directly from our phones; why not incorporate this wave of technology use into our world of academics? Rebecca M Sullivan shows just how the use of the technology in a classroom can benefit a student's writing. The technology that she focuses on is the iPad. Because in my own college experiences I have had my iPad there to use as a tool for my writing process I was curious to see how Sullivan's article would apply. How does my own experience compare to the experience of students in a classroom? Well I have found similarities and differences along the way but it seems that I experience some of the same benefits and distractions that occur with the students in the secondary learning level classroom.

Literature Review

The most important thing that I noticed about Rebecca M Sullivan's article, The Tablet Inscribed: Inclusive Writing Instruction with the iPad, is that this article was written very recently; it was published in January of 2013. The iPad is a very new technology and the recency of the article is something that shows a new form of writing in a more modern classroom. Rebecca M Sullivan shows the integration of technology of the iPad into the secondary learning level classroom in order to compose writing with the tablet technology. Sullivan mentions that there have been debates as to whether or not technology was a good thing to integrate into the classroom setting because of the distractions that it may bring to the learning process. In the classes where the iPad has already been integrated they have added and deleted different applications that would be helpful to the class and a distraction to the class respectively. For example, the Music, Calendar and App Store applications were removed from the iPads because these were felt to be intended for the single-user as opposed to the sharing use in a secondary level classroom. As an instructor herself, Sullivan faces the potential problem of distraction by providing covers for the iPads and gives a clear instruction during her classes when the cover on the iPad is to be closed in order to provide her, the instructor, with the students' full attention.

When the students are working they are writing more efficiently and at a higher level of quality work when they are composing their work on an iPad. The students are able to track their writing process more easily on the iPad that they use on a more frequent basis in their class. Also, the use of discussion is a major part in the writing process and the use of the iPad allows for an easier connection with others to initiate this discussion. Things that initiate this discussion that is used in the study is a Google Doc. The entire class can now view, edit and give feedback to a paper that is posted. The iPad also allows for an easy connection to online databases and a variety of other resources that are literally in the hands of the students while they are writing. The ease of accessibility is what leads to the better quality of paper.

The student's writing in a classroom setting is improved by the use of an iPad. It was my goal to see if any of the occurrences that happened in the study that Sullivan refers to would take place in my own experiences.

Data Analysis

I have been keeping track of the my use of the iPad over the course of nine weeks and I have seen just what I have used it for. My iPad is something that I use for all of my school work. I compose each of my papers, no matter the length, on my iPad. I order to type up my paper I have a Documents application which is available in the apple App Store as a free application. The touch screen is convenient for me and when I type I hold the iPad horizontally so the the keyboard is wide enough for my hands to touch the 'keys' with ease. When I compose my writing I typically am not at a desk, I carry it around with me in my bag wherever I go. I will sit in my room on the floor or in my bed in order to write a paper or I will compose papers in my car between classes. In all of the places that I use my iPad for academic writing there is no music or any other outside source of any kind around to serve as a distraction, no food or drinks, nothing. Typically when I am in my car I do not have access to an Internet connection which allows me to focus on my work as opposed to navigating away from my paper. When I am at home I will even turn off my wifi in order to avoid distractions. I have seen that I typically navigate away from my paper when I am using a source on the Internet. I will go between the two applications of Documents, where I compose my paper, and Safari, the Internet server that is on the iPad. When the Safari is open and running I have a tendency to travel to other websites and lose focus on my paper.

Although I may lose focus on what I am doing within the different applications when I use the iPad I focus on it solely. This undivided focus is a benefit to my writing because it allows me to focus on the topic of my paper and allows me to produce a better quality of work. When I only keep the applications open that pertain to the work that I am doing it makes it a lot easier for me to focus. I also noted that I have taken a screen shot, or a picture of any image that is on the iPad screen that gets saved to the photo application, of the Internet windows that I am using so that I can use them at a later time. These screen shots allow me to access the information from a website without needing access to the Internet. This helps with my wondering when I am doing a paper. When I am not connected to the Internet it also allows me to better my focus because I am not receiving any text messages to my iPad that would tempt me to answer them.

From the data that I have collected and noted on from my behavior I can see how Rebecca M Sullivan relates iPads to composing writing. Obviously the study is different because she focuses on the use of the iPad in a classroom and the classroom alone while I travel with my iPad and use it in a variety of settings. The iPads that are used in the secondary learning classroom that Sullivan refers to have also been programmed specifically for a class and all of the distractions that I deal with on my iPad have been removed from the iPads that these students used. However, the benefits of using the iPad are something that I share with the students in Sullivan's classroom. I am able to connect with the Internet and databases for sources all from one device and I am able to connect with other people in order to gain more ideas in my writing, even though I admit that sometimes I sway off topic and get distracted. Overall, what I have seen is very similar to Sullivan's article although it talks about iPad use on a larger scale than just one person the uses are similar and the benefits correlate.





Conclusion ?
Choppy?
Connections that still need to or should be made?
Anything!

Data

iPad Data

Class work
Homework in the car
- no music
At home in room
- in bed
- on floor
Holds iPad long ways to type
Uses documents app
Emails papers to desktop
Reformat paper on desktop
Easier to text when doing papers
Unknown length of papers
I think it is ironic that I'm taking notes for data on my iPad
I don't take notes in class on it usually
I use safari for researching
Check emails
Keep it in my purse at all times
Use it even with no Internet access
Make online purchases on it
I never let anyone really use my iPad
When I am writing on the iPad I go into my own zone and I tune out the rest of the world
I hate the fact that it autocorrects and yet I like that it auto corrects
My hands hover over the keys and I don't like this because its like a carpel tunnel type of feeling
Easy to navigate from one app to another

Data in Class

I am currently working on my data in class.  I will post it as soon as I am done today.  I hope.

Things I Still Need to Do

Ok so for this research project I have a lot of work to do to continue on the right track.  In class today we talked about the grading and the values given to the different sections.  Because I now know what I kind of need to be graded well I am going to list the things that I still have left to do.

So far I have been collecting data, or basically taking notes on myself, to see what my personal habits are in regards to my iPad.  This is a good start to my data but I am continuing to add to these notes because I want to have as much information as possible.

I still have to:
- take the data that I have collected and thoroughly analyze the data that I have collected,
- I have to discover exactly what others have said about the use of iPads or I might have to broaden it to technology because there may be a lack of research on the use of iPad,
- I have to relate or disconnect my own idea that I have about my research to this previously researched ideas,
- I also have to set up how I am going to present my ideas in the actual paper itself,
- I am going to try and present my purpose of my research in a clear way so I need to think about how I can be clear to the audience

I think that this looks like there is not too much left to do but I realize that there is a lot of work that goes into each one of these sections and I am in for it.

What questions to ask myself?

Because I am doing an auto-ethnography i have to think of the questions that I will be looking for in the observations of myself.  I will then have to ask myself what areas I plan on focusing on and researching.

Because I want to focus my research paper on my composition of papers on an iPad some of the questions that I may want to focus on are:

- where I am when I am using the iPad to write (the setting)
     - school, home, work, wherever
- when do I usually write on the iPad (the time of day)
- how do I write when composing
     - sentence structure, spelling errors, do I edit often
- what do I do when I am writing on it (are there any distractions)
- do I let anyone else use my iPad


I realize these are vague but I think that these are things that will come up in my observations so I think that I will be able to expand on them.

Oral History Conversation

I interviewed or more accurately had a conversation with Maritza Rodriguez. She started out conversation by telling me that she had an interesting experience for what she was doing on September 11th. She told me that she was a Sargent in the army at the time. She was 27 at the time and had been in the army for five years. She was in Fort Hood, Texas at the time and she said that she remembered thinking like 'this is what you trained for' and she said that she remembered feeling like she would hope that her training would help her when she would need it. She joked that you could not really say no if you were told that you were going to war. The feeling at Fort Hood went from 'chilly to hot' as in there was now a lot of tension that was arising and America was ready to go to war. She said that the security was heighten immensely; she said that even for her, being a soldier, it was difficult to get onto base because they began checking every vehicle. Her unit went to Iraq two years later but she wound up going to Korea.

Short Analysis Rough Draft

Ok so for right now I am definitely trying my best to analyze the language that is being used in the data set five about the chat rooms. I plan on doing an interview for my final analysis project so I think that it would be beneficial to me to see the type of language that is used by the interviewer in order to not sway the answers of the interviewee.

Something that stood out to me in particular is that throughout both excerpts there were not a lot of questions that were asked. Between both excerpts there were only approximately six questions asked. Not every time that the interviewer talked was a question asked, I think that allowed time for the interviewee to answer fully and made it less like an interrogation and more conversational. Because of the conversational feel I think that as an interviewer you have to have a general questions but I do not think that you should have a list of questions that you only plan to ask because you lose some of the full explanations if you were to cut them off. The original question was asked in the first line of the interview and then the questions after that spawn from the answers that are given, which seems to add to more qualitative and plentiful data.

The interviewer never in these excerpts mentions herself or even says the word I, the focus stays on the interviewee and the topic that they are talking about. In order to be able to keep the interview going along steady it would make sense for both the interviewer and the interviewee to be in the same Discourse community. Being a part of the same community would allow for the understanding of the language that is used throughout the conversation. For example, in the excerpts if the interviewer did not know what a chat room was or had little experience with the computer and internet then the interviewer would become confused and unable to continue on the track with the interviewee. The interviewer has to be well-informed on any topic that could arise regarding the original topic. For example, the original question was a broad topic and could have gone in a variety of directions. The interviewer asked how the interviewee felt about computers, if they decided to talk about the make up of a computer and the different programs that are on it then the interviewer would have to know how to handle that type of conversation which would require understanding of the terminology used.

I think the biggest thing that reviewing this data set has showed me is that it is very important to be in the same Discourse community as the person that you are interviewing. You need to be able to communicate with them in a way that is non threatening and will allow them to give you as much information as they can produce through a method of conversation.

Short Analysis Ideas

For the upcoming short analysis I was thinking about using the information from data set 1, the shaggy dog stories.  I think that the structure of each story would be something to consider in the analysis.  The fact that each one of the jokes is set up in a narrative format is also a unique feature of the jokes.  Even the idea that they are called 'stories' as opposed to jokes.  I think there is a lot of ways to analyze these.

Questions on Papers

I think that having both the comments in the margins and the comments at the bottom of a paper is the best way to receive feed back. You can see that throughout the paper in the margins the professor is able to add helpful hints to specific areas of the paper. They can question a specific decision that you made in your paper. This is helpful because you would not know what they were referring to specifically if they had waited until the end of the paper to say that. In addition to the comments in the margins I feel that having the little wrap up or summary of the professor's overall opinion of your paper is also important. Seeing just comments on the side could be intimidating and possibly make you think that what you wrote is not good when in reality the professor was simply giving you some suggestions or helpful hints. It's encouraging to know exactly what the professor thinks of your paper especially when it is on a rough draft because then you can tell if you are heading in the right direction.

Survey Blog

Student Learning Outcome #1: students will produce essays through a series of drafts that include exploratory writing or talk, as well as revisions that include addition, deletion, substitution and rearrangement.
#1: I typically revise my writing multiple times (gives students the freedom of starting all over again if needed)
#5: When I revise my first draft, I spend most of my time on issues related to purpose, audience, content, and/or organization (mentions the importance of drafting and addition/deletion and substitution)
#7: I use writing as part of my thinking and analytic processes (free writing, always necessary when drafting)
#12: When I revise my first draft, I spend most of my time on grammatical issues (addition/deletion and substitution)
#14: When I revise my writing, my revisions typically include additions, deletion, substitution, and rearrangement
#15: I typically brainstorm or do other planning activities (ex. freewriting, listing, clustering as part of the writing)
#16: Overall as a writer, I would rank myself (writing skills based on those components from SL #1)
#17: Overall as a critical reader, I would rank myself
Student Learning Outcome #2: students will identify central ideas/themes of a text through class discussion and writing.
#6: I am able to use discourse analysis to explore research questions (discourse is widely used mostly in class)
#8: I feel comfortable talking about the main ideas of a text in class discussions (participation required to engage in main idea talks and comfort)

#11: I am able to interpret the main ideas of a text (it offers students the opportunity to take apart the text and be able to further understand its content)

Student Learning Outcome #3: students will use two or more methodologies from English Studies to develop original research or creative products.
#2: I am confident in my ability to conduct primary research (research, research and more research)

#4: I able to use textual analysis to explore research questions (comparisons and first hand research)

Student Learning Outcome #4: students will demonstrate ability to give a compelling oral presentation.
#10: I am comfortable giving presentations

#13: I have given a presentations where the audience used writing to respond to my ideas

#18: Overall as a speaker, I would rank myself






I think that overall the survey was alright ...I feel that it could have met he student learning outcomes and still have been less jargony. I think that you should have also been able to add comments if you wanted to, or just to elaborate on an answer.

iPad Articles

There is not too much information on composing writing on an iPad basically because the iPad is a relatively new technology. Together with Dr. Chandler we found the one source from the College Teaching book volume 61 by Rebecca M. Sullivan. As of right now this is all that I have for the research for my topic. I intend to further research the resources that she had used for her research.
Much more research is needed to be done on my part in order to have an adequate amount of information on the iPad topic. It might even be interesting to see if apple had any kind of information on what they might have intended the functionality of composing on the iPad would be.

Composing Writing on an IPad

Originally I was interested in doing research between texting and academic writing.  After my conference with Dr. Chandler I have a more solid idea of a new topic.  She asked me if I use text messaging, and I do, she then asked me what other things I do with my phone.  I ventured to talking about how I do all of my school work on my IPad.  We discussed about how my writing is different from writing it on an IPad versus writing on a laptop or computer.  I am thinking about doing an autoethnographic study about how composing  writing on on IPad would effect how I write versus how I would write on a laptop.
I think that another question could be how does composing writing on an IPad effect the way people write.  And I think that I like this one better.

I plan on using Rebecca Sullivan's article ''The Tablet Inscribed: Inclusive Writing Instruction
With the iPad''.  From this short article I will also see what resources she used for her article and see if there are any topics that would be supportive of my question.


Does the environment effect your writing?
Ways you type? Keyboard, On screen keys, (watching how people type) thumbs versus full hand
define was writing is
methods of writing, - computer journal IPad
context of writing
spelling- autocorrect
text to speech - helps to hear the words versus reading them
iCloud - sharing with phone
short hand blends into writing

Is our class a Discourse community?

We, as a class, are a Discourse community. We have our own type of language that is used in class. I think that this language may overlap with other English classes that we take but it does not make it an English Discourse community. The ways in which we use the language are different and then how we interact is different from the ways we would interact as an English department because of how the interactions would take place as a much larger group. I think that the student Discourse plays a role in the Discourse of our classroom because of the role that we play, sitting down while the professor stands up front for example. The student Discourse helps to keep the class feel as thought there is some semblance of order. It may even be our student Discourse that leads us to have the Discourse in the class by what we talk about and how we feel comfortable enough to actually talk to each other.

What happened in class?

Wen we first started the entire class was a little unsure of how or when to really begin. I felt a bit of tension int he room. As Dr. Chandler began asking questions the class opened up, it was hard to answer a question and still right down the actions in the room. Joanna volunteered and spoke up about her project idea on elementary classroom settings and towards the end she added her personal experiences. When Dr. Chandler spoke, the entire class laughed, with the exception of my row, it seemed to be a nervous laugh. Arlette and I did not understand why everyone else was laughing. Jillian gave her example for her project and because of her in depth idea Dr. Chandler made a joke about a dissertation and everyone thought that she was being serious, she wasn't. I noticed that the class giggles at random times. Krista gave her idea on bullying in college and in the middle of it Jenna left and everyone int he class seemed to notice. Dr. Chandler asked more questions and then she called on Stephanie and Karl even though they hadn't raised their hand. I think that I noticed this because it was just a freer vibe for a classroom. Afterwards the class even sat and chatted amongst themselves, talking in the class makes it feel more relaxed.

Ethnographic Field-notes

After reading the article on field notes I feel like it is helpful to almost become a part of the life of the person or people that you are interviewing. In a way this is such a helpful thing because it allows for you to see the daily, even hourly, life of the interviewee but I feel there may be flaw in that because they could be altering what they do because of your presence.

I know that I will be interviewing people, especially young people, in my research study and it is interesting to know how to interact with them. Because I am interested in researching text messaging language versus the language used in academic papers I will be working very closely with people. In a way I feel like I will be intruding into the personal business of my interviewees but it is my responsibility to reassure the interviewee that my presence is purely there for the sake of the research and not to be nosing into their personal lives. The participants will have to be willing to cooperate with me and be understanding of my position inn the research.

Shaggy Dog Stories

What experiences/backgrounds does someone have to have to like the joke? (Like an insider/culture)

Based on the readings and analyzing we did from Gee, we all agree that the background and audience play a big role into who would like the joke and understand it. For example, if someone foreign from another country came and heard the first "joke" from shaggy dog stories, they wouldn't understand the intertextuality. The fact that words in shaggy dog stories have double meanings could even prose an issue to those that aren't familiar with the meaning of shaggy dog stories. For example, let's say you told a lawyer to read the one about the mail and the check. He/she may take it offensive, so the audience is definitely something to consider as well as the age. We wouldn't want to tell this to a 10 year old because of their understanding and knowledge. Not only would they not understand but we feel that there’s an excess amount of violence on it.

 A man shot a female bear who wasn't even the one who ate the lawyer's friend.

"Don't trust a lawyer when he says the (Czech)oslovakian is in the male"

Along with the double meaning word standards, the pattern of grammar is something I feel that we (with some English background *whether major or minor*) have better preparation to understand than a mathematician or scientist.  I feel that due to their (scientist and mathematician) immense technicality they would read it plainly as in oppose to us that understand the word order because we're more trained in English than they are. In order for someone to like or understand a joke they would have to be within the same Discourse as the person telling it in order for them to fully understand the puns or humor in the joke. We have attached a video from “Dwight” from the office. He explains from the vantage point of an actor how Ricky Gervais (creator of the office comedy) capitalized on the shift on what counts as humor in this generation- which is reaction to behavior rather than the traditional "set up, set up, punch line". Hence, it explains why lot of people shaggy dog stories may not be as funny to people now.

http://youtu.be/aIiErKX6JDY

Blog 2 - Define analysis. Describe how you might use analysis and Gee's building tasks to study one of the areas of interest you mentioned in your first blog.

     To me analysis is a word describing the process of discovering an answer.  The process you go through from determining what you are looking up all the way until you discover your final result, to me, would be the idea of analysis. I feel like analysis is used in many different forms.  You can analyze data in science or you can analyze a piece of writing in literature.  Like I said in my own definition of analysis you need to have some kind of idea what you are looking for in the beginning of the analysis process otherwise you not properly analyzing a part of the selected piece of work.  

     Because I have not yet narrowed my search down to a particular topic I am not sure what I will be analyzing yet, but I think that Gee's building tasks could be used.  Although vague I know that I want to investigate the use of language through different media sources an how it differs from that of a person's spoken language.  This topic is a great one to use Gee's building tasks because all of the different tasks are applicable to this topic.  The language is unique to the environment, the identity used varies, the relationship between users is considered, connections are required, etc.  Gee's building tasks would actually be a really useful way to analyze the topic of the language in a variety of technologies.  

Blog 1: What kind of writing studies research are you interested in working on?

     Gee talks about language being more than just what you say and he says that it is based on relationships and environment and multiple other factors that influence the words that are said.  I think that because of this I am interested in researching the technological side of writing.  I think that there is something that is different when someone writes something through a text message or on social media.  How the message that you write is perseceived depends not only on the words typed on the screen but also the person who is reading the text.  I think that researching something to do with the technological writing would be very interesting.  There are multiple dimensions of the technology so I think that maybe focusing on one aspect of it would be better than doing a broad range of technology in order to receive a more detailed conclusion.